[Column] Music changes depending on food and ideology—Cultural history built by vegans and straight edges
Column en StraightEdge Vegan Vegetarian![[Column] Music changes depending on food and ideology—Cultural history built by vegans and straight edges](/../assets/images/column-vegan-straight-edge-music.webp)
Music changes depending on food and ideology - the cultural history built by vegans and straight edges
Text: mmr｜Theme: Tracing how the ideas of vegan, vegetarian, and straight edge artists have changed music culture and social consciousness, from hardcore to noise/avant-garde music.
Introduction
Music is not just about sound.
Lifestyle, body, and choices are always intertwined.
What to eat, what to refuse, what to believe.
The accumulation of such everyday life forms the texture and message of music.
Particularly in punk, hardcore, and surrounding cultures, the lifestyle itself has been treated as part of the music.
Typical examples are straight edge and veganism.
Although these two have different origins, they eventually intersected and formed a unique ethical system within musical culture.
Tracing the history of music, we see not only changes in sound, but also changes in people’s values and ways of living.
In this article, we explore the relationship between music and ethics, expanding our horizons from the birth of straight edge to the formation of vegan hardcore, as well as noise and avant-garde music.
Music is a vessel for carrying thoughts, and those thoughts are born from the details of life.
Social background on the eve of the birth of straight edge
1970s American youth culture
In the late 1970s in America, rock and punk were at the center of youth culture.
At the same time, drugs and alcohol were widely accepted as symbols of rock stardom.
Many iconic musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison, had their lives cut short by drugs and lifestyles of excess.
Freedom was often associated with self-destruction.
However, some young people began to appear who were uncomfortable with this trend.
Are “rebelling” and “destructing yourself” really the same thing?
This question led to later straight edge thinking.
The advent of hardcore punk
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, punk evolved into more extreme forms.
It’s hardcore punk.
Distinct scenes formed in Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, the West Coast, and elsewhere, and the music became faster, shorter, and more aggressive.
However, inside it, a movement other than a mere destructive impulse was also occurring.
Self-control, discipline, and an orientation toward clean living.
Paradoxically, a culture of self-discipline began to emerge from the music of rebellion.
Minor Threat and the Birth of Straight Edge
A movement created by one song
In 1981, Washington D.C. hardcore band Minor Threat released “Straight Edge.”
This song was a short one, lasting only a few dozen seconds.
But the impact is immeasurable.
The lyrics were a personal declaration that I didn’t need alcohol or drugs.
They themselves did not intend to create a new movement.
However, young people found a new sense of value there.
Unintentional cultural expansion
The term “straight edge” spread through live houses, fanzines, and cassette tape culture.
Straight Edge was not a political party or a religion.
It was not a theory created by someone, but a culture that grew from the empathy of young people.
Straight edge was not an engineered ideology, but a culture expanded by resonance.
Straight edge perversion in the hardcore scene
Birth of the X symbol
The symbol “X” symbolizes straight edge culture.
An X was written on the back of his hand to prevent minors from ordering alcohol at live music venues.
Eventually, young people accept it as a matter of pride.
The mark of rejection has transformed into identity.
Role of Youth of Today
In the late 1980s, Youth of Today further developed straight edge ideas.
Rather than simply abstaining from alcohol and drugs, the focus is now on keeping the body and mind in good condition.
And this is where the connection with animal welfare and vegetarianism was born.
From band to community
Straight edge has become less of a music genre and more of a lifestyle.
It was both a philosophy of self-control and a critique of society.
Straight Edge has transcended the genre of music and has been redefined as a lifestyle ethic.
Earth Crisis and Vegan Straight Edge
Turning point in the 1990s
In the 1990s, Earth Crisis appears.
They strongly advocated veganism, animal liberation, and environmental protection.
Combining music and activism
What made Earth Crisis unique was the perfect sync between music and action.
Lyrics were not just emotional expressions, but concrete action guidelines.
Even eating habits and consumption behavior were talked about as part of music culture.
Establishment of Vegan Straight Edge
During this period, straight edge moves to a new stage.
In addition to abstinence from alcohol and drugs, veganism became an important factor.
Hardcore has become both music and a place for ethical practice.
Historical background of vegetarian music
Veganism and vegetarianism didn’t start out as hardcore.
Its origins lie in the counterculture of the 1960s.
Oriental thought, the environmental movement, and the return to nature philosophy have influenced many musicians.
The idea of harmony between body and mind also permeated musical culture.
Food choices have shifted from being a personal issue to a cultural message.
Paul McCartney and animal welfare
One of the most famous vegetarians in the world of pop music is Paul McCartney.
He has been advocating for animal welfare for many years.
Their activities have had an impact not only on music fans but also on society in general.
This is a prime example of how music and ethical messages are naturally linked.
Morrissey and the politics of food
Morrissey is also known as an animal rights activist.
He has expressed his criticism of the meat industry and the use of animals through his music.
His statements were often controversial.
However, the controversy itself made visible the relationship between music and ethics.
Music can be a device for social dialogue
Billie Eilish and the values of today’s generation
In the 21st century, veganism has become a popular part of youth culture.
Billie Eilish is a symbol of this.
In the age of social media, artists’ lives themselves are becoming visible.
Ethical choices became part of the expression rather than external to the work.
Thoughts that cross genres
Veganism and straight edge have spread beyond hardcore.
Metal, hip hop, pop, electronic music.
Even though the genres are different, they now share a common awareness of issues related to the body and ethics.
Ideas that were once a subculture have permeated general culture.
Japanese noise music and physicality
Let’s now shift our perspective to Japan.
In Japanese avant-garde music, there are performers who have continued to question the body and ethics in a way different from straight edge or veganism.
Merzbow and sound as non-consumption
Masami Akita, also known as Merzbow, is a global symbol of noise music.
He has long expressed support for animal rights and veganism.
But his importance doesn’t end there.
The music rejects hedonistic consumption.
Saturated noise burdens the listener and separates music from mere entertainment.
The sound itself that cannot be consumed becomes an ethics.
Just as straight edge rejected alcohol and drugs, you could say that Merzbow rejected the comfort of consuming music.
Keiji Haino and the limits of the body
Keiji Haino is a representative of Japanese avant-garde music.
There are no clear political slogans in his improvisations.
However, the performance itself is an act of exploring the limits of the body.
Voices, silence, noise.
They exist in a realm beyond meaning.
A practice that asks how far the body can become sound
Keiji Haino presented a third physicality that is neither abstinence nor pleasure.
Western noise and industrial
Throbbing Gristle founded industrial music in England in the late 1970s.
They expressed the violent nature of society and the controlled society through sound.
Noise was not entertainment but a tool for social criticism.
This trend later evolved into industrial, noise, and power electronics.
Power electronics and exposure ethics
If straight edge is an ““ethics of refusal,” power electronics can be said to be an ““ethics of exposure.”
We intentionally present the unpleasant aspects of society without hiding them.
Music is not a source of pleasure, but a device for confronting reality.
Relationship between music, ethics, and the body
Chronology
| Years | Events |
|---|---|
| 1960s | Counterculture and expansion of vegetarianism |
| 1970s | Birth of punk and hardcore |
| 1981 | Minor Threat “Straight Edge” announced |
| Late 1980s | Thought expansion by Youth of Today |
| 1990s | Earth Crisis clarifies vegan ideology |
| 1990s | Establishment of vegan straight edge |
| Since the 1990s | Merzbow leads the global noise scene |
| 2000s | Strengthening the connection between animal welfare and music culture |
| 2010s | Accelerating sharing of values through SNS |
| 2020s | Popularization of veganism |
Conclusion
Straight edge and veganism aren’t just peripheral cultures of music.
These were practices that connected music and life.
On the other hand, avant-garde musicians such as Merzbow and Keiji Haino proposed a different form of ethics by questioning the body itself.
The former asks, ““How should we live?’’
The latter asks, “How does one exist?”
However, there are underlying similarities between the two.
This is his attitude of not separating his way of life from his music.
Music is not just sound.
There is a body, a life, and a thought.
And the accumulation of these becomes a culture.
The history of music is not only the history of sound, but also the history of way of life.
